“I have a mantra that goes, “Write, Revise, Advertise and Exercise.”  Write means to write in my journal or create a story.  Revise—to rework an essay, story or novel.  Advertise—to get the word out about my website and my latest book Write Now!  Exercise—to move my muscles and keep my blood flowing so I won’t be a burden to anyone in old age.”

– Joseph Sutton, My Writing Year: Making Sense of Being a Writer

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“My mantra was: Be quick and be visual. Don’t waste time talking about an idea in countless meetings; use that time on making the idea a reality. An image of the idea will either get everyone excited and on board—or it won’t.”

– Greg Hoffman, Emotion by Design: Creative Leadership Lessons from a Life at Nike

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Read something.

Write something.

Speak something.

Hear something.

Move something.

A nice mantra for a day well lived.

“Latent in me, I suppose, there was always the belief that writing was greater than other things, or at least would prove to be greater in the end. Call it a delusion if you like, but within me was an insistence that whatever we did, the things that were said, the dawns, the cities, the lives, all of it had to be drawn together, made into pages, or it was in danger of not existing, of never having been. There comes a time when you realize that everything is a dream, and only those things preserved in writing have any possibility of being real.”

– James Salter, Don’t Save Anything: Uncollected Essays, Articles, and Profiles

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“I must write for the simple reason that writing is vital for any feeling of well-being. I have no marked desire to see my name in print, and I certainly do not owe anything to anybody. I can go on thinking and writing at a steady pace, and let the resulting material take care of itself”

– Eric Hoffer, Working and Thinking on the Waterfront

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Writing allows us to relive our lives, to order and reflect. As a writer I can play God. I decide what gets removed from the narrative. I have a monopoly over what’s left in

This practice is entirely self propelled. My words here are akin to a training log. I can look back and track my life through these daily efforts.

Of course my life is rich with other measures, not least my family. But writing is mine alone.

This is a record of preservation. Perhaps not produced for future study, but a daily slice of my thoughts and reflections.

When my memory fails and I hesitate to recall who I used to be, the confusion can be abated by using these pages to reconstruct my self.

“To fail is to give up. But you are in the midst of a moving process. Nothing fails then. All goes on. Work is done. If good, you learn from it. If bad, you learn even more. Work done and behind you is a lesson to be studied. There is no failure unless one stops. Not to work is to cease, tighten up, become nervous and therefore destructive of the creative process.”

– Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing

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“Remember this: whatever price you pay, there’s a bigger price to pay for not doing it than the price for doing it. The price of neglect is much worse than the price of the discipline. It may take a few years to put your success on track—but it takes your entire life to fail.”

– Jeff Olson, The Slight Edge

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I don’t feel like writing today.

I’d rather sit and watch TV.

I’m not relishing the idea of sharing any part of myself.

I’m always one day away from failure. I need to commit something to this screen.

I’ve had enough inclination to partner two decent quotes that were sitting, waiting for a day like today.

They are words of reassurance. Not every day has to be perfect. I’m trying as hard as I can today. I have kept to my schedule.

I’m not especially proud of my work today.

But I haven’t stopped nor neglected my commitment to myself.

I’m still writing, moving forward.

I can be proud of that.

“Energy begets energy.”

– John Irving, The World According to Garp

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“Not being exhausted all the time, I’d recommend it. You don’t get tired of that.”

– Jimmy Carr, Before and Laughter

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Energy is a renewable resource. But as we get older we have to be more vigilant in choosing where we get it from.

It’s easy to slide into the habit of saying, “I’m so tired.”

Speaking reinforces the feeling.

I’m not sure I can walk around proclaiming “I feel great!” This would be insufferable enough to undo any benefits in mood change.

But it does feel good not to be knackered.

There’s no guarantee the sun will be shining tomorrow to provide a recharge. Other less glamorous sources need to be sought out, namely sleep and food.

A little earlier to bed. A little more crunchy veg.

Small steps.

Like anything, the more you do it, the easier it is to continue doing it.

Every scrap of extra energy gained today can be of service to us tomorrow.

Habits are the closest we can get to perpetual motion.

““It’s a good thing I ain’t scairt to be lazy,” Augustus told him once. “You may think so. I don’t,” Call said. “Hell, Call, if I worked as hard as you, there’d be no thinking done at all around this outfit. You stay in a lather fifteen hours a day. A man that’s always in a lather can’t think nothin’ out.””

– Larry McMurtry, Lonesome Dove

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“Work is what horses die of. Everybody should know that.”

– Aleksander Solzhenitsyn, One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich

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Sure hard work is important. Nothing can really be achieved without it. But before we harness ourselves up shouldn’t the question be raised, “why am I doing this?”

Perhaps those who are compelled to overwork are trying to not stop. Maybe the stopping would lead to an unwelcome confrontation with themself.

Work can be an escape. A way of hiding from self discovery. A life of perpetual motion. But for what purpose?

Having time to think can lead to hard truths. But it helps us get closer to ourselves. Reflected time is rarely wasted.

I’m happy to sit back and watch the horses run themselves into a lather.

Not everything needs to be worked out, I’m a fan of stretching out and letting my mind wander.

“Although we live in an age of specialisation, where years of study are required to become a technician or mathematician, few would-be writers seem to recognise that their trade requires an equally long self-discipline.”

– Colin Wilson, Dreaming to Some Purpose

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“Good process must not only make the work better but also make you better. Excellence arises from refining good process—how can I do this better, or easier, or with less waste? It’s a job, like preparation, that never ends.”

– Dan Charnas, Work Clean

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I like to approach my writing as one who has no special gifts.

I’ve not been told, “you are a great writer, you should share your work.”

I’ve not been discoveted. I must discover myself.

I want to get better. I realise improvement only happens by doing. I cannot dream or will myself to be a better writer. It’s trial and error. Adding and subtracting. A practice of refinement.

I’ll never be as good as I want to be.

That’s OK, I’m patient.

I’ll get there in the end. And if not, at least I get to write trying.

“Sometimes you have to act out your dreams, because circumstances can get you crammed down. And instead of getting angry and jealous of what they got, why not get artistic about it and create a little work site, a little fiefdom. As long as it don’t oppress anybody or something, I think it’s kind of healthy.”

– Mike Watt, quoted in Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azerrad

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“Remembering this life’s journey beyond our present daily commute is one of life’s great disciplines, but keeping it as a constant, inspiring companion is beyond most of our powers. Sooner or later we forget, we lose sight, we come to a place in our lives where the vision splendid begins to fade into the light of common day.”

– David Whyte, Crossing the Unknown Sea

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We are often the lowest lying point in our personal geography. Life, demands, busyness, stress and responsibilities trickle, flow, then pour down to us.

It takes a mighty effort to rise to higher ground. From there we can survey and see the flow and rush of life.

Up here I can create a refuge. A place to create and reconnect with myself.

I cannot live and stay up here indefinitely. I must descend into the turmoil and broil to earn a living and gather inspiration.

Each ascent is taxing and takes conscious effort. There is no elevator to the top. Only those of us who are committed reach our personal fiefdom.

I use my elevated position to observe the world through books. I have space to let my thoughts converse with interesting works.

I must be vigilant against the erosion of my fortifications. If left unchecked, a crack can render which can let in a little of the real world. This can easily open up under this great pressure sweeping away this fortress of solitude.

I must patch the gaps with focused work.

Then it is time to look up at the sky and dream. And the dream realised is meaningful creative work.

The more I do this work, the more secure this refuge becomes.

All it takes is a little vigilance and the will to create.

“Though I was grateful for a state-sponsored schooling that had lasted much longer than that of anyone else in my family, I had not really been educated, rather, brought up to pass exams.”

– Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self

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“Education: conscious or unconscious manipulation by one generation through material, intellectual, and moral pressure to model the following generation according to the rules and principles which, most often, the educators haven’t themselves followed, and of which they have sometimes recognized the inanity, if not even the danger.’

– Georges Simenon, When I Was Old

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When you choose to educate yourself, far from being constrained, life opens up.

At early middle age I cherish the freedom to study whatever I please. And the greatest part of this self manipulation is that there is no exam to pass at the end. It is infinite!

Far from being overwhelming, infinity in learning is exciting. I can never know too much. There is never a future where I can be bored from undersimulation. Every time I open a book I learn something new and often it’s the understanding of, a degree closer to being, my true self.

And no one has the same education as me. My path is unique, tailored to my whims and curiosities.

I played the game of schooling. I managed to finish with a fairly decent score.

But it’s taken me years to realise that I can learn anytime anywhere. I do not have the time to sit and study all day. I was never very good at that even when I was supposed to be.

Learning can take place in snatches. Moments, chewed here and there, add up to a big messy ball of attention.

I am making it up as I go along. And the best bit is I don’t have to justify the utility of my middle aged education.

This is education for myself. The best kind.

“A good comedy can be written on a postcard.”

– Buster Keaton, quoted in The Life of Images by Charles Simic

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“And if you think you have a book evolving, now is the time to write the flap copy. The blurb, in fact. An author should never be too proud to write their own flap copy. Getting the heart and soul of a book into fewer than a hundred words helps you focus. More than half the skill of writing lies in tricking the book out of your own head.”

– Terry Pratchett, A Slip of the Keyboard

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How can I summarise my blog, Conversations With Quotations?

It is a record of my search for the tools and inspiration to help me keep going.

I am always looking for ways to understand what I carry around within me: memories, desires, fears and curiosities.

I seek, mostly through books, better ways to carry myself through the world.

There is no systematic approach to my reading nor any plan of what I will write. It is a meeting of compulsive reading and instinctive writing. There is very little revision. Most of my quotes are fed by books I have actually read. I do not haunt websites or social media accounts which spew out quotes. I like to find my quotations in context.

I like to see the juxtaposition, on the page, of two authors who never met in person. I feel like the host who is eager to catch snippets of conversation.

My thoughts are often not directly about the two quotes, rather they inspire an idea within me and I write it down.

Writing this blog is simple and satisfying. I love the constraints of this self imposed format.

I spent years dreaming of writing and never doing it. The more I write here, the clearer my writing goals are becoming.

The more I write, the less able I am to stop.

“A genius is the one most like himself.”

– Thelonius Monk, quoted in Monk’s Notes by Steven Lacy

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“Georges built the foundation of his brand all by himself. Before anyone started working on his marketing channels, Georges’s brand was good and well because he doesn’t know any other way to act than to be genuine. Not once has he veered from his own legitimacy, from his own truth, from the best way to tell his story. All the marketing angles are based on it, inspired by it, and limited to it. I remember the instructions he gave us when the sponsorships started growing: “Just make sure everything stays 100-percent authentic—it’s the only thing I insist on,” he said. “No bullshit.””

– Rodolphe Beaulieu, quoted in The Way of the Fight by Georges St Pierre

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I envy people who are completely themselves.

Some people seem to be comfortably and assuredly one person. Able to make decisions and stay with them.

They have confidence plus integrity.

The rest of us have to figure out who we are.

I’d love to have more integrity. I struggle to be the same person with everyone, consistent in my actions and confidently present my true self.

What can I build all by myself? Certainly nothing on the level of genius. Perhaps a trickle of thoughts and a grab bag of quotes is as good as it gets for me.

But these quotes and musings are doing something: writing is building my confidence. I’m getting to know myself a little each day.

I’m still searching for the genuine. Perhaps the search is the point.

Can I be a searcher? I certainly feel like I’m on a quest. Will I find the holy grail?

Too late to turn back now…